Footprints
by Jeokitty
Summary: A tender and sweet childhood memory only causes Quistis pain.


Footprints  
By: Jeokitty 

Rated G. It's completely innocent. 

I don't own Final Fantasy 8, Quistis, Squall or anyone. They all belong to SquareSoft. 

"See, I told you no one would be here. Everyone's inside, watching the big game between Deling and Esthar!" An 8-year-old Quistis happily told Squall, spinning around a few times on the beach. 

"You're right! Why would they stay inside though? It's only football. And it's so nice outside!" Squall said, smiling. 

Suddenly, Quistis screeched as the ice cold water of the tide touched her bare-footed toes. She jumped back and knocked both herself and Squall to the ground. "Oops…" Quistis said, embarrassed. Squall only laughed as he stood back up and helped Quistis up. Quistis started blushing. "Not my fault the water is cold! Why's it have to move like that anyways?" 

Squall laughed again. "So it can clean the beach!" 

Quistis gave him a confused look. "Clean the beach?" She looked around, "But the beach is already clean!" 

"Well, it cleans the sand." Squall explained. 

Quistis looked even more confused as she bent down and poked at the sand. "But that's clean too!" Suddenly, the tide rushed in again, causing Quistis to jump back and land on her butt. She watched in silent amazement as the tide washed away the hole she had poked in the sand. "Hey! Did you just see that?" Quistis exclaimed excitedly. 

Squall sat down beside her and started writing in the sand. "That's what I was talking about. The water cleans the beach." 

"Ooooooh!" Quistis realized, smiling. "Wait, wha'cha writing?" 

Squall didn't reply and kept writing. 

"Squall?" Quistis asked again. 

Squall only smiled as he pointed to her name written in the sand, as elegantly as a 7-year-old could write it. 

Quistis gasped. "That's so pretty, Squall!" Squall just kept smiling. Quistis was about to make another comment until she saw the tide coming in to wipe out Squall's beautiful writing. "Oh, no! Squall! The water's going to wash it away!" 

Squall frowned slightly. "Well, there's nothing we can do." 

"But… but… it's so pretty! And it's going to be gone!" Quistis yelled, nearly hysterical. 

"That's just the way the water works, Quisty." 

Quistis was on the verge of tears as the tide washed away her name in the sand. She sniffled slightly and pouted. "Why's the water so mean?" 

Squall gave her a hug. "It's not. It's just the way the water is. That's just its job. It has to clean the beach." 

"But it cleaned away your pretty writing. It shouldn't do that!" 

Squall smiled at her. "It's okay." 

"No, it's not!" Quistis yelled, running towards the water. She started stomping on the wet sand. "Stupid water! Stupid water!" she yelled. Within seconds, she realized the tide was coming in again and quickly ran back to Squall. She turned around and saw her footprints in the sand as the tide slowly approached it. "Let's see you get past that!" Quistis taunted the tide. Of course, the tide merely washed over her footprints and retreated out again, leaving nothing where her footprints once were. Quistis gasped in shock. She was about to scream when Squall covered her mouth with his hand. 

"Quisty, it's okay. The water can't help doing what it does." 

"But it's so mean." Quistis pouted. 

"But it can't help it." Squall explained, "Everything has a job and they've gotta do it." 

Quistis slowly nodded. "I get it. But it's still sad." 

"The tide might wash away writing and footprints, but the moment will forever be etched in our hearts." Squall stated, pronouncing 'etched' a little weirdly. 

Quistis blinked a few times. "What?" 

Squall shrugged. "I don't know, I heard matron saying that once. It's from a poem, I think." 

Quistis giggled and lightly hit Squall on the arm. "Don't say gibberish!" 

Squall faked hurt and started chasing Quistis back to the house. 

Behind them, their footprints were imprinted into the sand, as the tide slowly rushed in to wash it away. 

~ ~ ~ 

Quistis leaned against the pillar as she watched Squall and Rinoa from a distance, sharing their first kiss under the moonlight on the balcony. She sighed softly. This was suppose to be a joyous celebration. Her standing here and moping due to a broken heart wasn't exactly joyous. She quietly slipped out of the Quad and walked outside into the cool night. She looked up at the full moon shining down at her and remembered that the moon controlled the tides. She suddenly knew where she had to be. Knowing no one would notice, she boarded the Ragnarok and took off to where her heart took her. Very soon, she landed the Ragnarok in front of the little stone house. Everything was silent as she walked inside, disturbing cobwebs as she brushed them away from her face. The roar of the tides was strong as the salty air hit her face. Carefully, she walked down towards the beach. 

"Home…" 

Standing just out of reach of the tide, Quistis bent down and picked up a stick. Carefully and in elegant script, she wrote her own name. She smiled. The only thing she remembered from her childhood was that 7-year-old scrawl of her name. Yet, how she had loved it. Once again, in elegant calligraphy, she wrote Squall's name beside hers. She smiled again. 

_"The tide might wash away writing and footprints, but the moment will forever be etched in our hearts."_

It was forever etched in her heart. Yet, that only made it hurt more. Carefully, with the stick, she crossed out her own name and wrote Rinoa's. Then she drew a heart around the two names, making sure it didn't intersect with her own name. 

_"The water can't help doing what it does."_ Quistis repeated in her mind. "Just like how you can't help doing what you do…" she whispered out loud. 

She dropped the stick, turned around and headed back up to the house and to the Ragnarok. Headmaster Cid would be making speeches soon and presenting awards. She would have to be there. 

Behind her, the tide slowly rushed in to wash away the names imprinted into the sand. 

* Author's Notes: Short and sweet (at least I hope it's sweet), with a touch of bitterness. I'm not actually too sure where this story even came from. I was listening to boring presentations in class, realized I didn't have a book with me, so I started writing. And I've never written a story so fast. 2 hours. Well, okay, if you consider how short it is, 2 hours is pretty sad. But, still, I've never done that. Anyways, C&C is more than welcome. This is a new approach for me. I hope it's not too bad. 


End file.
